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18. ABDULLAH IBN MAS‘ŪD (1)

Abdullah (‘Abd Allāh) ibn (son of) Mas‘ūd ( مسعود بن عبدهللا) r.a. (d. 32/650) was one of the earlier companions (ṣaḥābah) of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w., and an the sixth person who converted to Islam. In his early life he used to tend the flocks of one of the leaders of the Quraysh in Makkah called ‘Uqbah ibn Mu‘ayṭ )عقبة بن معيط( from early in the morning till nightfall. The boy was used to be called “Ibn Umm ‘Abd” (إبن أم عبد “the son of the mother of a slave”). He became qāḍī of Kufa in about 642 CE.

One day while tending the flocks, the young Abdullah was approached by two men unknown to him. They were the Prophet s.a.w. and his companion Abū Bakr r.a. who were apparently very thirsty and tired. They had come to the mountains of Makkah to avoid the persecution of the Quraysh. They greeted him and asked if he could milk one of the sheep to quench their thirst. He said that he could not do that, because the sheep did not belong to him, and he was only responsible for looking after them. They were pleased with his honesty. Then they asked him if he had any young goat that did not have milk. He pointed at a goat, and they placed their hands on its udders muttering some Qur’ānic verses. To his amazement the udders became full of milk, and they drank and offered some to him. Then the udders shrank back as before, and the goat was released. Soon after he knew that they were the Prophet and his companion Abū Bakr who had come to him, he embraced Islam and quitted tending flocks.

Abdullah’s mother offered the Prophet her son to serve him which he agreed. Now, instead of looking after the sheep, he got a better job, looking after the needs of the Prophet s.a.w. inside as well as outside the house, and was closely attached to him. He became a special servant of the Prophet, helping him put on his shoes, accompanied him on his journeys and expeditions, woke him when he slept, provided cover when he washed, and attended other personal needs, that the ṣaḥābah called him ṣāḥib al-siwāk (“the bearer of the toothbrush”), ṣāḥib al-na‘layn (“the bearer of the

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slippers”), ṣāḥib al-muṭahhirah (“the bearer of the cleansing water”), and ṣāḥib al-wisīdah (“the bearer of the cushion”). He was allowed to enter the Prophet’s house any time of the day or night, that he was given more privileges than anyone else, and that some people thought the he was one of the Prophet’s household. He was entitled “the Secretary” of the Prophet as he was entrusted with his secrets.

Abdullah ibn Mas‘ūd had thin legs and was short that it was said that he was the same height of a tall man sitting. He once climbed a tree in a campaign to cut wood. When some people laughed at his legs the Prophet reproached them and said, “Are you laughing at his thin legs? They will weigh heavier than Mount Uhud in the Scales of the Hereafter.”

Abdullah ibn Mas‘ūd was the first man to recite aloud the words of the Qur’ān before a gathering of the Quraysh. The eye-witness al-Zubayr related that one day that the Prophet's companions were gathered with the Prophet s.a.w. They said, "By Allah, the Quraysh have never heard the Qur’ān being recited to them before. Isn't there any man to recite it so that they may hear it?" Thereupon Abdullah ibn Mas‘ūd said, "I shall recite it for them”

They said, "We are afraid for you. We want a man with a clan to protect him from those people if they want to harm him." He said, "Let me go, Allah will protect me." Then he went to the Maqām Ibrahim (a landmark situated a few meters from the Ka‘bah) at the Ka‘bah and recited:

حمن والقمر الشمس .البيان علمه .النسان خلق .الق رآن علم .الر

سبان جم .بح دان والشجر والن (6-1النجم:) يسج The Most Beneficent! Has taught the Qur’ān. He

created man. He taught him eloquent speech. The sun and the moon run on their fixed courses (exactly)

calculated with measured out stages for each. And the herbs (or stars ) and the trees

both prostrate (Q. 55: 1-6).

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The Quraysh looked at him and said, "What does Ibn Umm Abd say? He is reciting some of what Muhammad came with." They went to him and began to beat him in the face while he was reciting till he finished whatever Allah wished him to recite from the surah. When he returned to his friends with his wound, they told him, "This is what we were afraid would happen to you." He answered them, "Those enemies of Allah have never been more worthless to me than this moment, and if you wish I will go back to them and do the same tomorrow." They said, "No, it is enough for you. You have made them hear what they hated."

“The Most Beneficent has taught the Qur’ān” means Allah taught the Prophet the Qur’ān, and he in his turn taught it to his people. Allah made it easy to read and to remember (al-Zajjāj”s interpretation).

“He created man” means Adam (according to Ibn ‘Abbās, Qatādah and al-Ḥasan); another interpretation is human species.

“He taught him eloquent speech” means: names of everything; all languages; explanation of ḥalāl (legal) from ḥarām (illegal), of guidance from straying; explanation of the past and the future; explanation of good and bad (al-Ḍaḥḥāq’s interpretation); the explanation of what is beneficial and harmful to man (the interpretation of Qatādah and al-Rabī‘). Other than eloquent speech the term bayān also means “understanding” which is peculiar to man, not to animals, and that Allah taught each people their languages (al-Suddī’s interpretation). Muhammad Asad gives us more explanations about the term bayān. He said:

The term al-bayān—denoting “the means whereby a thing is [intellectually] circumscribed and made clearer” (Rāghib)—

applies to both thought in speech inasmuch as it comprises the faculty of making a thing or an idea apparent to the mind and conceptually distinct from other things or ideas, as well as the power to express this cognition clearly in spoken or written

language (Tāj al-‘Arūs): hence in the above context, “articulate thought and speech”, recalling the “knowledge

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of all the names” (i.e., the faculty of conceptual thinking) with which man is endowed …

(M. Asad, The Message of the Qur’ān, note. p. 824, n. 1)

“The sun and the moon run on their fixed courses (exactly) calculated with measured out stages for each” means without them time and ages cannot be calculated (according to Ibn Zayd and Ibn Kaysān).

“And the herbs (or stars) and the trees both prostrate.” The word جم م ء الشي نجم is derived from the verb الن وما ينج ن ج , something appeared and emerged. The term “al-najm” could be the herbs and their prostration and that of the trees is the prostration of their shadows (al-Ḍaḥḥāq’s interpretation); in another view, herbs’ prostration is their facing the sun while it is rising, their leaning until their shadows decrease (al-Farrā’’s interpretation); their prostration is the turning of their shadows with them (al-Zajjāj’s interpretation). The term “al-najm” could also be the stars according to al-Ḥasan and Mujāhid and their prostration according to him is the rotation of their shadows. It is also said that the prostration of the stars is their setting, and the prostration of the trees is the harvesting of their fruit, as reported by al-Māwrdī. In general all of them and the whole creature are subservient to Him.

The term ود ج وع means (”prostration”) الس ض ,submission") الخ obedience”) as reported by al-Qushayrī. According to al-Naḥḥās the original meaning of ود ج in Arabic language is (”prostration”) الس

وجل عز لل والنقياد الستسلم (“to surrender and to submit to Allah the Almighty, and everything surrenders to Him, including prostration in prayer.

One of many examples of the vast knowledge of Ibn Mas‘ūd is as follow:

‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb in one of his journeys leading a caravan he met another caravan from the opposite direction where Ibn Mas‘ūd was happened to be in it. It was fairly dark and he could not be seen properly. So he sent a messenger to find out the origin and the destination of the caravan. They said that they came “from عميق فج

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(fajj amīq, deep and distant mountain highway) , or from a far off destination.” The expression فج عميق (fajj amīq) was the Qur’ānic expression from which the pilgrims came.1 Their destination was العتيق البيت " (al-bayt al-‘atīq, the Ancient House, namely, the Ka‘bah)." The expression العتيق (al-bayt al-‘atīq, the Ancient House was for the Ka‘bah to which the pilgrims intended to visit in their pilgrimage.2

‘Umar r.a. realized that there was a scholar among them. So, he told someone to ask the person:

"Which part of the Qur’ān is the greatest?"

و إل إله ل هللا ه ل القيوم الحي ه ذ (522... )البقرة:نوم ول سنة تأخ

Allah. There is no god except Him, the Living, the Self-subsisting. Neither slumber overtakes Him nor sleep… (Q. 2:255)

he replied quoting the Āyat al-Kursī (the verse of the Throne).

"Which part of the Qur’ān carries its essense?”

إن (09النحل:) ... الق ربى ذي وإيتاء والحسان بالعدل يأم ر هللا

Verily Allah enjoins you to be just and sacrifice for others and help your kinsfolk.… (Q. 16:90)

was the answer.

“What it the most comprehensive statement of the Qur’ān?”

ة مثقال يعمل فمن ة مثقال يعمل ومن . يره خيرا ذر ا ذر (8-7الزلزلة:) يره شر

So whoever does good equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it and whosoever does evil equal to the weight

of an atom shall see it (Q. 99:7-8) was the answer.

"Which of the Quranic verses evokes fear?" 1 Allah said in the Qur’an: ن ل من يأتين ضامر ك ل وعلى رجال يأت وك بالحج الناس في وأذ فج ك

( 57الحج:) عميق And proclaim to mankind the Hajj (pilgrimage). They will come to you on foot and on every lean camel, hey will come from every deep and distant (wide) mountain highway.(Q. 22:27) 2 Allah said in the Qur’an: وا ث م م ولي وف وا تفثه م ليقض وره و ن ذ (50:الحج) العتيق بالبيت ف واوليط

Then let them complete their prescribed duties (manasik of Hajj) and perform their vows, and circumambulate the Ancient House (the Ka‘bah) (Q. 22:29).

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م ليس ك وءا يعمل من الكتاب أهل أماني ول بأماني ول به ي جز س

ون من له يجد ا هللا د (151النساء:) نصيرا ول ولي

It will not be in accordance with your desire (Muslims), nor those of the people of scripture (Jews and Christians)

whosoever works evil have the recompense thereof and he will not find any protector or helper

besides Allah (Q. 4:123)

"Which part of the Qur’ān inspires hope?”

وا ل أنف سهم على أسرف وا الذين عبادي يا ق ل هللا رحمة من تقنط

إن ن وب يغفر هللا ه جميعا الذ و إن حيم الغف ور ه (21الزمر:) الر

Say, O my servants who have wasted their resources, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins.

He is the Forgiving, the Compassionate. (Q. 39:53)

When ‘Umar asked whether Abdullah ibn Mas‘ūd was among them, they replied, "Yes, indeed."

(CIVIC, 5 June, 2015)

:المراجعالشاملة المكتبة هـ 119. ت) الطبري تفسير ) هـ 671. ت) القرطبى تفسير )

Asad, Muhammad. The Message of the Qur’ān. Gibraltar: Dar al-Andalus, 1984

http://www.inter-islam.org/Biographies/abdullahibnmasood.htm http://sahabastories.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/abdullaah-ibn-

masud-r-a.html http://www.islamiska.org/e/masud.htm http://www.sunnah.org/history/Sahaba/masud.html (Scanned from: "Companions of The Prophet", Vol.1, By: Abdul Wahid Hamid.) http://ahadith.co.uk/hadithbynarrator.php?n=Abdullah+bin+Masud&bid=1&let=A http://islamicencyclopedia.org/public/index/topicDetail/id/34 http://www.islamicvoice.com/december.2003/child.htm#abmj